This provocative volume, written by the distinguished diplomatic historian
Thomas G. Paterson, explores why and how Americans have perceived and
exaggerated the Communist threat in the last half century. Basing his spirited
analysis on research in private papers, government archives, oral histories,
contemporary writings, and scholarly works, Paterson explains the origins and
evolution of United States global intervention. Deftly exploring the ideas and
programs of Truman, Kennan, Eisenhower, Dulles, Kennedy, Nixon, Kissinger, and
Reagan, as well as the views of dissenters from the prevailing Cold War
mentality, Paterson reveals the tenacity of American thinking about threats from
abroad. He recaptures the tumult of the last several decades by treating a wide
range of topics, including post-war turmoil in Western Europe, Mao's rise in
China, the Suez Canal, the Cuban missile crisis, the Vietnam War, CIA covert
actions, and Central America. Paterson's vivid account of America's Cold War
policies argues that, while Americans did not invent the Communist threat, they
have certainly exaggerated it, nurturing a trenchant anti-communism that has had
a devastating effect on international relations and American institutions.